Israel

Mortar Shell From Syria Lands in Israeli Golan During Netanyahu Visit

A mortar shell was fired from Syria into the Israeli Golan Heights on Wednesday evening, 10 miles from a town where the Israeli prime minister was visiting.

In a speech on Wednesday in Katzrin, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: “We are here celebrating the fortieth anniversary of Katzrin, the capital of the Golan Heights. I said that we will not tolerate spillover and that we will respond to every firing. During my speech shells from the Syrian side landed in our territory and the IDF has already struck back. Whoever attacks us – we will attack him. This is our policy and we will continue with it.”

According to the IDF this was another example of a stray mortar fire from internal fighting in Syria. There were no casualties and no damage as a result.

The mortar landed near the border fence in Quneitra; an area that was declared a closed military zone following several mortars landing on the Israeli side earlier in the week. The restriction had been lifted earlier in the day.

An IDF spokesman confirmed that the IDF fired back in response and targeted the Syrian military position that fired the mortar.

Earlier this week a report in the London-based Al-Hayat newspaper suggested that Israel was involved in the talks between the US and Russia in Jordan two weeks ago over the creation of a buffer zone in Syria. Israel reportedly demanded that Iranian militias be prohibited from taking up positions 50 kilometers from the Israeli border. The report said that Iranian militias are currently located three kilometers from the Golan border and operate from Syrian army positions.